“In a little while it will be all over. We may fail. But the rights for which we contend will not die.” – Louis Riel, May 6, 1885 The Métis are often overlooked when discussing the Confederation of Canada. In particular, Louis Riel was a critical leader of the Métis that strived to sustain the Métis way of life, and eventually led Manitoba into enter Confederation. For this reason, Louis Riel should most definitely be remembered as a “Father of Confederation” that strived for peaceful negotiations. In the early to mid 1800s, the area that we know of today as Manitoba was called the Red River Valley. Its inhabitants consisted of mostly the Métis, people that had European fathers and native mothers. As a part of Rupert’s Land, the Red River Settlement was greatly affected by the Canadian government’s plan to purchase Rupert’s Land. Many factors contributed to the Canadian government desire to possess this vast territory. The National Dream to build Canada as a nation from “sea to sea” was threatened when the Americans purchased Alaska. As John A. MacDonald said, “I would be quite willing, personally, to leave that whole country a wilderness for the next half-century but I fear if Englishmen do not go there, Yankees will,” expanding Canada westwards was inevitable. In consideration of Manifest Destiny, the belief that the US was justified and destined to conquer all of North America, Prime Minister MacDonald states his fear that the Americans may conquer the surrounding territory around Canada. This motivated the government to purchase Rupert’s Land and to start expanding Canada westwards. In addition, with the growth of the population came a bigger demand for farmland. Stimulated by the cheap plots of land, settlers, mostly Protestants and members of the Orange Order, a group of people that were anti – French and anti – Catholic, established themselves in the Red River Valley. Inevitably, this led to inequity and prejudice against the French and English...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...
LouisRiel
Madman or Hero?
LouisRiel is one of the most controversial figures in Canadian history. To some, Riel may be a national hero. To others, he appeared to be a crazed lunatic. But no matter what your opinion is, it is fact that LouisRiel was a determined man who wouldn’t give up on his people. His leadership of the Métis was shown in both the Red River and North West Rebellions. Everything Riel did was to intentionally improve the Métis’ social status and remind the Canadian government of their existence, for they were often disregarded. He formed the National Committee of the Métis to protect their lands and provided Provisional Government for his Métis people, which negotiated an agreement and allowed the territory surrounding the Red River Settlement to enter the province of Manitoba. Also, he created the Métis bill of rights so that the Metis could protect themselves. Riel spent almost all of his life fighting for justice. By using his saying, “Justice commands us to take up arms”, he encouraged the Métis to fight with the Northwest Mounted Police for their rights and dignity. Before his high treason at the age of 41, he took the responsibility of the rebellion, with the Canadian government against him. Even before he died, his...

...contribute to all great stories. LouisRiel, one of the most controversial figures in Canadian history, is now argued as both a villain and a hero. He was hanged on November 16, 1885 for treason, but was he a real villain? LouisRiel is undoubtedly a national hero because he stood up for Métis rights, was responsible for the formation of Manitoba, and called attention to the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Some may seeLouisRiel as a villain because of his initiatives taken against the government. Riel was the leader of two major rebellions. The first rebellion was the Red River Rebellion of 1869. There was a need for the rebellion when the Métis, people with half-native and half-European descent, have had enough of being taken advantage of. Land speculators and surveyors at the time laid out square townships and disregarded the strip lots the settlers were used to have. Rupert's Land was purchased without any consultations with the settlers in the area. The Métis called for Riel, who was the leader of the Métis in the prairies at the time. After unsuccessful deliberations, Riel commenced the rebellion at Fort Garry, where they seized munitions. Riel created a provisional government in the area and tried to negotiate with the Canadian government as much as possible. To add to the...

...﻿The northwest rebellion 1884-1885
"we must make canada respect us" -louisriel
why was the manitboa act so important?
1.provincial status
2.land titles
3.they now had better representation (4 seats) in ottawa
4.french language and culture were protected
but there were a few problems...
· scrip - certificates that entitled individuals to land or money from the federal government. it was used to eleminate the aboriginal title of metis people in MB
· most metis lost their lands through fraud and land speculators
· it took 5 years for land to be distributed (1875) many settlers from east came during this period - harrased the metis
· some metis sold their scrip or were forced from the land without compensation
important figures to remember
gabriel dumont - a skilled buffalo hunter, shooter and horseback rider. one of the members to travel to montana to convince riel to come back to canada.
Poundmaker - a first nations leader who felt the metisstruggle would bring light to the aboriginal stuggle as well.
Big Bear - a FN leader who helped stop many blood conflicts
wandering spirit - a FN leader who took over big bear's first nations and was involved in raids and attacks.
Frederick middleton - a british general who would defeat the metis at the battle of batoche
difference between RR and NW Resistances
· for...

...LouisRiel- Hero or Tyrant* Many people till today think that LouisRiel was not guilty and that his sentence was just an easy way for the Canadian government to get him out of their way. LouisRiel was the leader of the Métis during the Red River Rebellion and the Northwest Rebellion. He was hanged on November 16, 1885 for treason, but was he a real villain? LouisRiel is undoubtedly a national hero because he stood up for Métis rights. In my opinion LouisRiel was a hero in many ways. After the rebellions Riel could be called a villain because he challenged the government and wrongly viewed their ideas, led rebellions against the government and Ran away to the US after he killed Scott, but if people looked at it a little closer they would see that Riel was pushed to act the way he did. Before the Red River rebellion the level of tension was increasing in the red river settlement due to the arrival and actions of the surveyors and land speculators. Riel disapproved of the
actions, so he organized bands of Métis to confront them. He later formed the Métis national committee to fight for Métis concerns about their land. He then occupied Fort Garry. That is what triggered the Red River Rebellion. Riel wanted to...

...controversy surrounding LouisRiel, and the dispute which has arisen because of him, he will forever remain a hero and savior of the Métis people, and a model for other oppressed aboriginal people. LouisRiel has left his mark in the history of the Dominion of Canada, the voice piece of the Métis people, both an eloquent spokesman for their aspirations, and a man who had compassion. LouisRiel, the eldest of his other eleven siblings was born on October 22, 1844 near, the now modern times Winnipeg, Manitoba. His parents were LouisRiel, Sr. and Julie Lagimodiére. He was a part of a well-respected French Canadian Métis family. His family was well known in the Red River Area because of their devout to Catholicism and their strong family ties.
Riel was first educated by Roman Catholics priest at St. Bonifance. He was described as a fine scholar of many languages, science, and philosophy and sometimes was unpredictably odd and reclusive. At age 13 he came to the attention of Alexander Taché, the Bishop, who was promoting priesthood for talented young men. In 1858 Taché arranged for Riel to attend the Petit Séminaire of the Collège de Montréal. After Riel heard of his father’s death in 1864, Louis had lost all interest in being a priest and he left the college in...

...present-day Winnipeg, over 80% are Metis, persons of mixed white (usually French) and Indian ancestry. The Hudson Bay Company agree to sell Rupert's Land to the Canadian government for 300,000 pounds, with the transfer effective on December 1..
October 11, 1869 The presence of a Canadian survey team in the Red River area angers local residents, and LouisRiel is chosen to confront the team. He takes up the cause of protecting the interest ofMetis settlers.
October 30, 1869 William McDougall, chosen by Ottawa as the Lt. Governor to manage the new land, arrives at Pembina, near the Canadian border, after travelling through the United States (there are no roads or raillines through Canadian territory to the area.) McDougall receives a letter from Riel notifying him that he is not welcome in the North-West Territory.
November 2, 1869 Riel and an army of a few hundred Metis capture Fort Garry without meeting resistance.
December 10, 1869 Riel announces the formation of a provisional government, headed by himself.
February 10, 1870 A convention of forty delegates, twenty French/Metis and twenty English, formally elects Riel as president of the provisional government.
March 4, 1870 Thomas Scott, a hot-headed Orangeman imprisoned at Fort Garry, is executed by order of a Metis court-martial after...

...
SS7 CH9 LouisRiel Essay Teagan Moore 7-1
LouisRiel is known by many names: a prophet, a traitor, and a madman. Out of them all, Riel is regarded as a hero, who stood up for his people in the face of the Canadian government, and those who question his sanity still view him as an essentially honourable figure. Riel was strongly respectful towards theMétis and felt that they deserved rights too, like any other human being, as they faced racial discrimination by Canada’s government, whom denied them many rights and took away things like their land and culture. Riel’s earlier life contributed to who he was during the encounter with the surveyors and the settlers, such as his good education and his knowledge of three different languages: English, French, and Cree. As part of the Red River Resistance, he helped establish a provisional government, and was elected president. Since the Resistance and execution of Thomas Scott, he had suffered a series of emotional breakdowns, but later on, his delusions had subsided and he was married with a family and became a school teacher.
LouisRiel was born a natural leader.
Born in St. Boniface in the Red River settlement, Riel was raised in the Francophone-Catholic community of St. Boniface. However, Riel identified strongly with the Francophone...

...Was LouisRiel a hero?
I think that LouisRiel was a hero because he really treasured his people and protected him in any way he could.
He had many accomplishments in life like how he learned many languages and he was seen as the guy who many people thought would lead them to freedom.
When the surveyors were being rude and invading their land like it wasn’t even there, he stopped them from passing by his cousins land. He also created a provisional government which was a threat to Britain which is probably what LouisRiel wanted.
He also helped the French a bit...maybe without him knowing, but he still did. He murdered Thomas Scott, an Englishman, which the French despised. So he was considered a hero to the french as well.
Many parties did not include the metis into decisions and didn’t allow them to have a voice. Riel got tired of this, and led many rebellions (The red river rebellion and the North west rebellion) which, showed his leadership.
He also created the Metis bill of rights to protect his people. And he returned to his people to form a government and a rebellion. He knew the risk of being charged with treason, but still fought for freedom. He encouraged his people to fight like him against the North West Mounted Police for their rights and their identity.
He took the full responsibility for the rebellion and his last...